August 2010 Guest Recap & Props!

Over the past several months, Matt’s Musings has welcomed a number of contributors who have offered their unique perspectives on a number of subjects including writing, marketing, SEO and business. I like to think that these contributors have added value to my personal blog and am grateful for what I have been able to publish thus far.

Just in case you missed who contributed what during August 2010, I am offering to you the following recap of the month’s guest posts:

Using YouTube Videos To Pick The Right Domain Names — Duncan Heath, in the first of two articles he contributed in August, offers how YouTube can help you find a domain name that will instantly attract visitors. Capitalize on the video phenom to get your new website off to a fantastic start.

Being Creative Under Pressure — Creativity and pressure don’t work so well together, right? Well, pressure is a fact of life and Sonia Mansfield shows us how to keep the creative juices flowing no matter how crazy things can get.

Let Your Negotiating Skills Turn Your Into A Money Maker Outsourcer – Lior Levin explains how letting others handle some of your tasks can be beneficial, even a source of revenue. You can’t and shouldn’t do everything yourself.

Top 7 Timesaving Tips For Entrepreneurs — Entrepreneurs have a lot on their plate which means that making good use of their time is essential to their success. James Adams shares seven tips we can all use to make good use of our time.

Is Blogging Good For The Mind, Body, And Soul? — Lior Levin returns, this time sharing his personal journey into blogging. Read how an introvert loses his solitude to become a blogging extrovert.

3 Things Not To Say To An SEO Client — Duncan Heath returns and gives us sound advice on how to deal with clients for all things SEO. Lose the gobbledygook and speak a language your customers can understand. They’ll be grateful and you’ll come across professional.

How Any Business Can Benefit From SEO — Kara Taylor explains how beneficial SEO is to large and small companies alike. Certainly, small businesses have financial constraints, but they need to optimize their sites in order to be competitive.

If you’re interested in contributing an original article to Matt’s Musings, please click on the contact link to find my email address and send your inquiry my way. Please check the site’s archives [site:matthewkeegan.com] to make sure that you aren’t repeating something published here over the past six months. All contributions are passed through Copyscape before publishing; I reserve the right to edit as needed.

Is Blogging Good For The Mind, Body, and Soul?

By Lior Levin

Anyone who has ever blogged will tell you that blogging has had an impact on their life and I, personally, will be the first one to tell you that this thinking is true.

I have become a blogging enthusiast which I compare to finding something in life that makes you feel really great — you just want to share it with the world! Needless to say my friends are hearing about blogging all the time; some are into it themselves and others just haven’t tasted the good life yet.

But, is blogging good for the mind, body, and soul? Is so, how? The only way I can tell you is by sharing my take on what blogging has done for me.

What blogging does for the mind.

Traditionally speaking, I have not been known as an outgoing person, rather most people would consider me to be a good listener. Not that listening was a talent of mine; I didn’t figure I had anything worth saying. And, if I had something to say I wasn’t sure it would come out as sounding intelligent, so I just kept my mouth shut. I think this sort of behavior describes someone who is introverted.

I was still acting like that when I first started blogging because I wasn’t really blogging — I was blog reading. Then, I got up the nerve to leave a comment one day and suddenly realized I had blogged! Nobody came back and told me that my comments were stupid or “virtually” laughed at them. I have to tell you I only wrote a few lines, but I was pretty proud of myself as I had voiced an opinion.

Still, I was treading slowly, picking my blogging comments carefully. At first, I was spending 15-20 minutes at blogging sites each day and catching up on the thoughts of others, but have since increased that practice to a couple of hours daily.

Did that make me feel good about myself? You’re darn right it did! I discovered that I had lots to say, plenty of opinions to share and judging by the feedback people were interested in what I had to share.

Blogging is good for the body

When I tell people blogging is good for the body, they laugh. But, I see them giving me the quick once over and they’ll admit that I have lost a few pounds (10 in fact.). They find it difficult to equate blogging with weight loss because how can you lose weight when you are sitting on your butt?

I admit there is a fine line here, but let me explain: I used to be an avid junk food eater. It was common for me to have a bowl of chips by my side or a chocolate bar in my pocket for in-between meals.

Now, I have a new rule to follow: there is no food, drink or smoking allowed in my computer room. So, with all the time I spend there blogging and gaining enough confidence to start a new business thanks to blogging (another story), I just don’t have the time or desire to gorge myself which explains the weight loss. Regarding smoking, I went from using a pack a day and am now down to five cigarettes. So you tell me: is blogging good for the body?

Blogging is good for the soul

Your soul is the center of your being and where you form your beliefs. It is where your religious beliefs lie, but it is also the core of who you are. I found blogging gave me confidence to speak up. It showed me that I was intelligent, interesting and had something worth saying. It allowed me to believe in myself so I could move on to do things in my life that I may have never done otherwise. It also allowed me to form a circle of friends and to allow others the right to their opinions as well.

So is blogging good for the mind, body and soul? I think I have proven that it is. Blogging for me is like having a virtual psychiatrist.

I hope you are enjoying blogging as much as I do. If you’re not yet posting your thoughts and knowledge — you should be!

Author Information

Lior Levin is an owner of a SEO agency working with a nursing wear company called Milk Nursingwear and also with a task management start-up called Producteev.

Photo Credit: Artem Chernyshevych